Sacrifice
by Brass Tacked
Summary: The time has come for Orochimaru to take over Sasuke's body, but someone interupts and everyone's dreams are shattered. MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH, slight sasunaru


A/N: I recently changed my pen name from ScottishWish to PhoenixBlaze22, just thought that it was time for a change.

Disclaimer: Naruto and it's characters are not mine. I only like to borrow them sometimes, especially when I can arrange them in compromising positions!

Warnings: MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH and self sacrifice! Slight SasuNaru as well!

_

* * *

_

Sacrifice

He stood quietly, preparing himself for what was to come. He had been told what to expect, a brief flair of pain followed by silence and darkness. Kabuto had assured him that he could escape the banishment of his soul and make it to whatever afterlife really was with very little effort. It was that or attempt to wait out the timelessness and have the chance of a small part of his consciousness resurfacing and creating the possibility to witness the final retribution of his family. He knew without thought that he would take the second choice. Any small chance of seeing Itachi's face during those final moments was worth the risk of losing himself forever.

He could hear footsteps approaching, signaling that his time was almost over. Regret and insecurity washed through him, the face of the only person he had ever considered to be a friend seemed to ghost across his vision. He could feel his resolve shattering. Then a pale face was before him and thin hands were reaching for his shoulder. Too late, it was too late to change his fate. He realized his mistakes now that he knew everything was over, now that it was too late to make anything right. He could feel the power needed for the soul transfer gathering in the small room, it was choking him with its intensity.

Then there was a flurry of activity to his right. A shout that he could not understand startled the older man that stood before him. It was a voice that he easily recognized, even though it had deepened with age and maturity. Pain seared through his chest at the knowledge that Naruto would witness the destruction of his soul. There was nothing for it now; it was too late to change the path his life had taken. It did not matter how much his heart wished for that second chance that he knew had passed long ago.

Then his body was impacted by something solid. He was falling and then there was impact with something hard and a flash of pain raced through his body. Darkness filled his vision and he knew it was done. But the feeling of the floor beneath his body did not go away, nor did the soft scent of lemons and lilacs that he had always associated with Naruto. He cautiously attempted to move his arm, it lifted off of the floor effortlessly. The movement shifted the dark mass above him and he could finally see. His eyes had been buried by an orange clad form that was twitching and struggling on the floor. Getting to his knees, he began to look around the room.

A familiar form lay discarded less than two feet away. He did not have to touch it to know that it was already growing cold and stiff. His mind tried to deny the inevitable truth as his stomach lurched with the knowledge of what had happened. His eyes were once again drawn to the person moving next to him. There was an internal struggle occurring within the blonde as Orochimaru's soul adjusted to its new body. He watched, with horror and despair growing within him, as the tanned skin turned pale and the eyes became slits. The whiskered cheeks grew gaunt as the chin morphed itself into a more pointed shape. No, this was not happening. That's what he told himself. He refused to let his mind understand what his eyes were seeing, even as his heart broke from it. It was his fault; he could feel that truth in his very core.

When cold, dark eyes met his, anger boiled within his soul. This was not how things were supposed to go. Without thought he reached for the weapon strapped to his back. In one fluid movement he unsheathed the blade and ran it through the heart of the person before him. He heard the scream echo through the room in accompaniment and it took him a moment to realize that the heartbroken sound came from his throat. With an irate yank he removed the blade with a sickening squelch of blood and flesh. The body fell forward, landing on its chest, the head turned so that the vacant eyes stared him in the face. There was something liberating about seeing the motionless figure of Orochimaru lying in a pool of blood.

The feeling fled quickly. It fled as the hair returned to blonde and the eyes to blue. It fled as the figure of Orochimaru disappeared, leaving behind Naruto in a pool of his own blood. A strangled cry echoed through the large chamber, as he fell onto his knees. The black head shook back and forth as it crawled closer and closer to the body. Soon he was covered in the blood that was freely flowing across the floor. He gathered the battered body into his arms, not noticing the tears that freely crept out of his eyes. For one moment his black orbs clashed with blue ones and he would have sworn that he saw life in them for that single instant, in that life he thought that he saw redemption and felt sorrow. He knew that there was forgiveness in them before the coldness of death began to override everything else, yet he could still feel a weak heartbeat that was slowing rapidly.

Without a second thought he leaned down and pressed his lips to those belonging to his most important person. He felt a brief response from the other before all motion stopped and he could no longer feel Naruto's heartbeat. He gathered the quickly cooling body in his arms and ran from the room with the only fitting destination in mind.

* * *

A/N: I think that there will be one or two more chapters added to this, hopefully I'll be able to write and post them in the next few days. Maybe I'll just leave this as it is, but I highly doubt it.

I'm working on the next chapter of _Wound Angel_ currently, look for it to be posted in about a week. I'm also brainstorming for the next chapter of _House Shoes with Head Lights_, hopefully inspiration will hit soon!

Wind to thy wings!

Phoenix Blaze


End file.
